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That's exactly the simplistic 'recipe' that I hate seeing. It's not going work for most people. Period. Only the starry-eyed beginners and can believe in this kind of statement (and I used to, as well). Oh, and I also went through a few periods, OMG, I am awsome and I don't give a care what my body looks like, as long as I can squat 150 lbs, WOOT. It doesn't last long. Stalling for months and years everywhere is a great way to get the rose-tinted glasses off.

Again, just lifting heavy things with whatever effing routine you want, doing proper cardio, and eating primal, CW, whole foods, Marcian... not gonna cut it. That's why majority of people you see in the lifting room in the gym are not looking like they stepped from the fitness magazine cover.

Reread what I wrote. This is advice for a beginner in response to egrok's question. If you've been experimenting for 3 years and have gotten nowhere then you may need better advice than any random internet poster can give and its time to seek out a pro for a personal evaluation. It took Arnie 5 years of dedication to win the Mr Olympia and he had the perfect genetics.

The real question is where are you at now?
Where did you start?
What have you tried previously and for how long?
And what is your intended goal?

As I said, maybe you need a professional trainer who knows their shit.

A steak a day keeps the doctor away

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I have a professional trainer, who is pretty darn good. He doesn't spout BS about jumping about with 8 lbs weights (which was my main fear when retaining a trainer), but he actually teaches me the proper form and ways to break plateau on the 5 main lifts & the equipment I have problems with, & once my wrist can take it - Olympic lifts. I will retain him next year as well & will probably get a few private lessons in basic boxing with gloves and the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling. That's said I will not rely on his, or anybody else's opinion about me and what i should do. I made this mistake too many times. *I* know best. I will not allow anyone to brow-beat me ever again with the 'you're doing it all wrong'.

I have read and followed a few programs for a recommended period of time, Strong lifts 5x5, 3x5, Madcow, Wendler's with a combination for Anabolic Diet, 1 bulk and cut cycle by eating Hydman's Super-charge Your Methabolism type whole foods diet based on the sports nutritionist recommendation, Paleo, LeanGains, Whole 30, Primal, fully Ketonic, and Ultimate Diet 2.0 regimen (3rd time now).

The only supplementation I tried was 5HTP, Creatine, and once every few months I would use Jack3D. I tried a supplement with that africain herb to suppress appetite, but gum & diet pop are more efficient for a fraction of cost.

That's after I lost post-pregnancy weight (before that I was a normal weight, about 118-125 lbs since I was 16 and doing stuff like cardio and Buns of Steel) on CW e-diets style and got certified as a Group Fitness Instructor by the provincial certification body in Choreography and Weights and teaching myself to run from 1 min stretches to > 1 hr at a time (at some point I was doing the 4 runs a week, long, short, intervals and hills).

I have improved. I have not become yet a person who you at a glance will define as 'buff' but I will get there. I am working right now on turning the Ultimate Diet 2.0 into a lifestyle, staging it to first get out of the fat coat and then to use it as a mass gain mechanism with limited fat gain. I am gonna see if I can finally leave the 120-125 lbs with 100 lbs LBM plateau.

And after those three years, I am still telling you, simple doesn't cut it. Aiming at lifting the heaviest weight you can lift is not it. Eating above maintenance is not it. SIMPLE DOES NOT WORK. Body transformation is anything but cookie-cutter recipe, and might, powerful genetic mechanisms are dead set against an average person looking distinctively fit. The most important thing I have learned during this 3 years is that following the rules is not what get you what you want, it is breaking the rules. You can't just be an "A" student and do everything absolutely right by whatever gospel you are listening to right now and expect to get your "A" (result as described in that gospel).

Even finding out the appropriate calories, macros and dietary restrictions for yourself takes months of experimentation. I find it hilarious when people plug their height and weight into some calculator and take it as what they should do. It's a starting point at best.

Yeah, I was honest with my psycho-consultant. Take it FWIW. If my way of thinking and advancing to my goals is not to your liking, well, it's my life as they say in that stupid song. That's how I live it, and so far it did not fail me once. It saw me through numerous challenges. With luck it will see me through this one too. If not, what's the loss? I will stay Okay looking and don't get buff. Better than the 160 lbs me, having a Safeway pastry with my tea every night & writing/coding/testing CRPG modifications for 30 hours a week after my day job.

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I do think the media and select images fuck with us. So many images are not even realistic and in our world, the fitness model look may be better than the runway model, but it's no more obtainable for most of us. To make that image of the fitness, there were lights, probably some tanning, a level of extreme dieting, excellent genes. It's not much more natural than the Victoria's Secret catalog.

I look at my cross fit class and two women come to mind. Both look amazing and are healthy women and VERY strong. The one has cellulite on her ass. The other has a 6-pack but no waist line (built straight). Perfection just doesn't happen. PERIOD. No one has a perfect body unless you go get a great photographer capable of awesome lighting.

Nothing wrong with the pursuit of perfection though, as long as the process makes you happy because you will probably never acheive that image because that image was made via optical illusion.

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Of course their images are enhanced, and they fast for a couple of days before the shoot, and all that. But the overall principle behind what makes their body to appear immediately and easily recognizable as fit (and those two ladies you quote, I am sure) is the same: sub-average body fat % and above average muscular mass. That's the goal, and upon achieving it, one can decide if the look is satisfactory or not. If not, luckily returning back to smooth and average BF% is not difficult at all for an average person. It's getting there that is the problem.

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Of course their images are enhanced, and they fast for a couple of days before the shoot, and all that. But the overall principle behind what makes their body to appear immediately and easily recognizable as fit (and those two ladies you quote, I am sure) is the same: sub-average body fat % and above average muscular mass. That's the goal, and upon achieving it, one can decide if the look is satisfactory or not. If not, luckily returning back to smooth and average BF% is not difficult at all for an average person. It's getting there that is the problem.

“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” -Vince Lombardi

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Late to this thread. But, I think this is one thing that Crossfit really gets right - just train sensibly and hard so that you meet some relatively lofty athletic goals, and you'll look like the best "you" you're gonna look like - and that's unlikely to resemble Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, since you don't have their bone structure / proportions (as in, torso length to femur length ratio, etc.)

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just train sensibly and hard so that you meet some relatively lofty athletic goals, and you'll look like the best "you" you're gonna look like

I agree- since starting cross fit, I've noticed my shoulders getting broader, butt getting higher and legs loosing fat and slowly, arms toning. Anyone I meet who has been doing it for 6 months or more looks great- defined muscles, flat tummies. There are none of the flabby people or overly thin people like you see at running events.